


Backup

by Laylah



Category: Final Fantasy XIII
Genre: Action/Adventure, Battle, Community: fic_promptly, F/M, Teamwork
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-11-14
Updated: 2010-11-14
Packaged: 2017-10-13 05:15:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/133365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laylah/pseuds/Laylah
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He's been pushing really hard to keep up with Lightning, but it's worth it, because she's starting to accept him.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Backup

**Author's Note:**

> For a prompt at DW's fic_promptly comm; the theme for the day was "no dialogue," and the prompt was "Hope/Lightning, teamwork."

Hope thinks he might be starting to lose track of time. Everything since the Purge, everything since the Vestige, is blurring together in his head. He slept for a while in the Vile Peaks, he's pretty sure, while Lightning scouted ahead. He still gets tired, even as a l'Cie. He's been pushing really hard to keep up with Lightning, but it's worth it, because she's starting to accept him. She let him take the lead when they started to cross the Whitewood, and backed him up like she thought he could handle it. Even if she's on point again now, it means—it means she thinks he can do this.

He follows her up the pathway through the forest, toward the next pillar of light. Toward ho—toward Palumpolum, and from there, the Sanctum. He'll follow her to the end of this road.

At the next corner of the path, there are more of those green cyborg panthers that have been coming after them since the Peaks. They're not all that scary anymore, but they are fast, and it's almost impossible to catch them off-guard. They come bounding down the path, snarling, and Hope reaches for his boomerang as Lightning snaps open her gunblade.

She looks so _cool_ , pacing forward, circling the first of the panthers like she's watching for it to make a wrong move. She doesn't even look over, doesn't give him orders—she's trusting him to know what to do with them by now.

He remembers. These ones can't handle ice. That's another thing he's getting used to, feeling magic gather in his hands and go where he throws it. The Fal'Cie gave him a death sentence, but it gave him power, too. He watches Lightning spring forward, lashing out at one of the panthers, and aims his magic at the same one. Frost touches his lips, hangs in the air around his hands, streaks toward the enemy. It snarls, falling backward for a second before it rushes Lightning again. Hope starts to ready another blizzard charge.

The other panther comes after him, instead of focusing on Lightning. It jumps at him, and he stumbles back, wincing—but he tries not to make any noise. He doesn't want to distract Lightning and he doesn't want her to think he's weak, and the sooner they make that first one _pay_ —

Lightning attacks it again, so fast Hope wonders if that's how she got her name. He throws more ice to back her up, and the panther staggers, totally off-balance now and vulnerable. The other one hits him while he's distracted, and this time he can't help making noise. Lightning glances over at him, frowning. She doesn't waste breath with orders, not when she's trying to take her mark down in a hurry, but Hope can read her face just fine.

She's got that one, anyway. He calls for healing this time instead of more ice, and it comes in a soothing green wave, a few times right in a row. His head clears, and the ache fades away.

And by that time, the first panther is down. Lightning dives for the second one before it can attack Hope again. One of it versus two of them is a much easier battle, and the second one barely gets a chance to attack again before they take it down. Hope's still breathing hard at the end of the battle, and the air tastes sharp and clean, like frost.

Lightning straightens up, folds her gunblade with a snap, and sheathes it. She glances over at Hope and just for a second it looks like she's about to smile. Then she reaches out, puts her hand on his shoulder, and squeezes once. Hope's breath stutters for a second, and his ribs feel just a little too tight. Lightning turns away, and starts up the next leg of the path.

Hope can still feel the warmth of her hand as he jogs after her.


End file.
